Star Wars: 5 Reasons Rebooting The Prequel Trilogy Is A Good Idea (& 5 Why It's Not)
It's no secret that since Disney's involvement in the Star Wars franchise, the fandom has become vocal with its displeasure concerning the Sequel Trilogy, but it wasn't that long ago that they'd been hating a different series of films. Before the House of Mouse purchased Lucasfilm from George Lucas and focused on completing the Skywalker Saga, the fans had turned against The Maker himself, and berated his Prequel Trilogy.
In recent months, there has been various executives involved with Disney like Bob Chapek and Bob Iger who have expressed their desire to overhaul the Skywalker Saga, beginning with the Prequel films. While the films do have their flaws, they represent Lucas's definitive vision, and rebooting them could either mess with cinematic history or be a chance to fix some glaring problems.
10 GOOD IDEA: IT CAN FIX PLOTHOLES
One of the principle complaints about the Prequel Trilogy is that it's full of the sort of Death Star sized plot holes that test the devotion of even the most diehard Star Wars fans. Many of these surround Anakin Skywalker's origin story, and his journey towards the dark side under Darth Sidious.
By changing aspects of the original story, such as the inclusion of an all-powerful Sith like Tor Vallum pulling even Palpatine's strings, some of the plot holes that damaged the Prequel Trilogy (and therefore went on to damage the Original and Sequel Trilogy) can be addressed.
9 NOT: IT'S GEORGE LUCAS'S VISION
George Lucas may have handed over the reins to the Star Wars franchise when Disney purchased Lucasfilm in 2014, but the Prequel Trilogy remains unequivocally his vision for the beginning of the Skywalker Saga.
By rebooting the Prequel Trilogy without the vision of not only the original creator of the Star Wars franchise, but also one primary director, there's a chance that it will become as fragmented and unfocused as the Sequel Trilogy.
8 GOOD IDEA: IT CAN GAIN FOCUS
The Star Wars franchise is comprised of an impressive catalog of shows, comics, novels, and video games, but its films are anything but cohesive. The entire Skywalker Saga (and the stand alone Star Wars films) lacks the feeling of being as consciously planned as the MCU.
With a constant change of tone, focus, and theme from one trilogy to the next, the films don't often make sense as a whole. By rebooting the Prequel Trilogy at least, the films have a chance to be aligned with purpose.
7 NOT: IT'S BOLDLY COMPLEX
The Sequel Trilogy has been accused of playing it safe and not offering any bold concepts and themes, when that's all George Lucas did with his Prequel Trilogy. He had the gall to make an operatic political thriller full of court drama and cloak and dagger intrigue.
For all its narrative bloat, it was a daunting task for Lucas to explain how the military industrial complex was behind the fall of the Old Republic and the rise of the Galactic Empire, and a reboot may not choose to show it at all.
6 GOOD IDEA: IT CAN BE RECAST
The Prequel Trilogy boasts some truly talented actors, and no Star Wars fan denies that Ewan McGregor's performance as Obi-Wan Kenobi did a great deal to salvage it's inconsistent dialogue and plot, but there's room for improvement.
Fans weren't as convinced by Natalie Portman as Padme Amidala or Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker, two major roles that needed to gain audience's empathy. A reboot could allow for different casting choices that might fit the characters better (with the exception of Ian McDiarmid. He is Sheev Palpatine).
5 NOT: IT HAS A CERTAIN AESTHETIC
One of the biggest problems with the Prequel Trilogy has come to be its biggest strength as far as some Star Wars fans are concerned. It looks startlingly more streamlined than the original trilogy, which though made earlier comes later in the narrative timeline.
Supposedly, the reason that the galaxy's technology in the original trilogy looks so much worse is because it's grown stagnant under Imperial rule. Though it can be viewed as a plot hole, it also made the Prequel Trilogy iconic in its own way. Besides, if Lucas had the budget to do so during the making of his original trilogy, the technology wouldn't have looked so run-down.
4 GOOD IDEA: IT CAN HAVE A NEW SCRIPT
George Lucas has long been recognized as a unique storyteller and visionary, with a knack for world-building, but as the scriptwriter for the Prequel Trilogy, he's been penalized on more than one occasion for lines of dialogue like, "I don't like sand."
With a reboot the clunky and ineffective dialogue can be completely revamped with a tauter script. Chunks of exposition spouted by characters can be transformed into scenes that actually move the plot forward without stalling it in place.
3 NOT: DISNEY SHOULD FOCUS ON NEW STAR WARS STORIES
Since Disney purchased Lucasfilm, fans have been divided about the direction the House of Mouse has taken the Star Wars franchise. The Sequel Trilogy seemed to tell an incoherent story that felt disjointed, with the occasional moment that still captured the essence of George Lucas's vision.
Fans are unsure if Disney has the creativity and the ability to reboot the Prequel Trilogy competently, and feel that Disney should instead focus its efforts on the Star Wars television series it has coming to Disney+, and other Star Wars films set after the Skywalker Saga.
2 GOOD IDEA: IT CAN SHOW WHAT FANS WANT TO SEE
Star Wars fans were excited about the Prequel Trilogy because they thought they'd finally get to see important events in the Star Wars historical canon; the rise of the Galactic Empire, the Clone Wars, the fall of the Jedi Order, and Anakin Skywalker's descent to the dark side.
They got some of what they wanted, but they didn't want an entire first film devoted to Anakin as a child, and they didn't want midi-chlorians introduced into the narrative of the Force, both of which prevented them from getting what they really wanted - to see Darth Vader hunting down Jedi for the two decades leading up to Star Wars.
1 NOT: IT'S A BLATANT CASH GRAB
It's difficult for some fans not to consider Disney's idea about rebooting the Prequel Trilogy as anything other than a hollow gesture. intended to profit off of Star Wars fans who have long been dissatisfied with it.
Disney seems to know that any piece of media based off of the Star Wars franchise will sell, so deciding to reboot the Prequel Trilogy is a surefire way to boost its bottom line without having to get too creative.